Syria: 5 children killed by rebel shelling on primary school

Fighters from the Free Syrian Army fire an anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on a vehicle deploy during fighting against the Islamic State (IS) jihadists in the northern Syrian village of Yahmoul in the Marj Dabiq.
(AFP)

At least five children were killed by rebel fire on a school in the southern Syrian city of Daraa on Tuesday, state media said.

“Five children were killed and 15 wounded in terrorist shelling of a primary school in the Al-Sahary neighbourhood of Daraa,” state news agency SANA reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, also reported the rocket fire on the school, saying at least six people had been killed, five of them children.

It said that at least 25 people were wounded in the attack, and that the death toll was likely to rise because a number of the wounded were in critical condition.

Rebel forces control most of Daraa province, but the provincial capital is largely controlled by the government.

Daraa is sometimes dubbed the “cradle” of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad that began with protests in the province in March 2011.